Back in time: My Grandmother couldn't wait to leave Barbados...I can't wait to go back

When my Grandmother used to watch the sun rise over the Atlantic ocean from Barbados’ Crane Beach as a girl, she dreamed of coming to England.

Ironically, ever since I was young I’ve wanted to visit the country where my Grandmother’s side of the family have lived as far back as the 1600s.

Paradise found: Rachel soaks up the sun on the pristine Crane Beach in Barbados

I only had photos and my
imagination to go by when my Grandmother told me stories of her childhood in the
Caribbean: of life on her family’s sugar plantation Fairfield in the
parish of St Philip; of her antics at Codrington High School; the weekly
trips to Bridgetown; and the holidays she spent at her Uncle Sid’s
house Bel Air not far from Crane Beach. Not to mention the dances she
went to at The Crane Hotel, the oldest resort on the island.

And the fact that she now cranks her heating up to tropical temperatures in her Cirencester home has helped me set the scene too.

It seemed only natural then, that I stay at the place that my Grandmother whiled away her summers on my first trip to Barbados, accompanied by my mum who’s half Bajan but has been to the island just three times before.

I felt a rush of excitement as the lush green island came in to sight from the plane window and, driving away from Grantley Adams airport, I had a feeling of déjà vu - everything felt so familiar.

My grandmother left Barbados on a boat aged 18 in 1939 to go to secretarial college in London, and has only been home twice to see family, some of whom I met for the first time on my trip.

She didn’t have the luxury of airline travel as we do today, and sugar production was the island’s main industry instead of tourism. Her eyes would boggle in disbelief if she saw how built up the west coast has become.

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The Crane Hotel has been transformed too. Back in the 1920s when my Grandmother was building castles with the beach’s infamous pink sand, the 18-bedroom hotel perched on the fossil-filled cliff-top was only a couple of buildings.

And the pavilion (called the casino
in her day) where I’ve no doubt she got up to no good on New Year’s Eve
and the like, is where I piled my plate with the breakfast buffet each
morning and ate in L’Azure - a new adjoining restaurant that’s perfectly
positioned to feast your eyes on the azure sea and craggy palm tree-fringed shoreline.

Hats off to her: Rachel's grandmother in Barbados and, right, a group of men help to launch the family's boat

The sensational views are one thing that haven’t changed, nor has the restorative breeze, which locals and tourists have hailed as health-giving since the mid-18th century. Those from the island's steamy centre and west coast flock to The Crane resort for its cooler climate and air freshly-purified from its travels over the ocean from Africa. After a nine-hour flight from a grey, rainy London, I could almost hear my lungs cry with happiness as they inhaled the sweet oxygen.

When it first opened its doors in 1886 after civil engineer Donald Simpson bought Marine Villa and turned it in to The Crane Hotel, it fast became a desirable destination. American cowboy Buffalo Bill was one of the first celebrity guests in the 1890s (the gold fob watch and revolver he left as payment for his stay is still in possession of the Simpson family).

And the likes of Princess Margaret, Mick Jagger and Rihanna, as well as numerous artists and writers have sought out its secluded serenity - until the evening that is, when the whistling frogs break in to full chorus, something my Grandmother loved.

Feast your eyes: Rachel enjoys the view of the palm tree-fringed shoreline at The Crane Hotel

Simpson added a south wing with four rooms (guests can request to stay in the original colonial building), the mahogany reception area (which is soon to be turned into a spa) and a Roman swimming pool (where I had daily pre-breakfast swims) plus the pavilion, but current Canadian owner Paul Doyle embarked on a huge expansion in 1998.

The Crane now has 240 suites, most with ocean views, private pools or gardens and kitchenettes. There's a new pool complex with waterfalls and a whirlpool, tennis courts, a gym, four restaurants, a shopping village and also - a luxury my Grandmother would have never envisaged - an elevator down to the beach to replace the precarious steps in the rocks.

And to celebrate its 125th anniversary this year, a new museum will display information about its history as well as memorabilia from guests of various generations.

Back in time: Rachel's grandmother (centre) and her mother as a young girl (centre right) enjoy a family day on the beach

Small trading ships would frequently sail into the Crane district's natural harbour and the area got its name not because of the abundance of birds with the same name (although they can be seen on the island and there are statues of the long-legged creatures scattered around the resort) but because a crane was positioned for raising and lowering cargo on the cliff adjacent to the hotel.

My Grandmother would sail out to explore the nearby coral reef with her cousins on one of the family's boats. She often laughs about how she’d have to hoist herself ungracefully up on to the Topper beyond the surf, and also how they once tipped the boat half way out, much to her uncle’s distress as he stood on the cliffs watching them.

We decided to head to the west coast for a slightly more civilised boat trip on the calmer Caribbean sea: a Sunset Cruise on the Cool Runnings Catamaran. It was an idyllic way of seeing the other side of the island, snorkel with turtles and watch the sun set with a rum punch in hand before making a hasty retreat from the tourist trap.

A sweet return: Rachel and her mum visit her grandmother's old house, Fairfield, where her father had the sugar plantation

The cocktails at The Crane’s restaurants are in another league to those on the boat. I developed a love of rum sours: a taste that must be in my DNA as my great grandfather would serve drinks on the veranda of their plantation house to anyone who happened to drop by of an evening. But any more than two, and they’ll bowl you over in almost as spectacular fashion as the Crane’s waves can.

And while my Grandmother would certainly have never eaten sushi, which we did in the hotel’s Zagat-rated Zen restaurant, she has often described some of the dishes we had at the traditional Bajan Sunday lunch buffet in L’Azure (they also host a wonderful Gospel breakfast there the same day).

Cou-cou (yellow cornmeal with okras), fried flying-fish and macaroni pie were some of her favourites and mine – and she would have devoured the mango cheesecake too.

Long goodbye: Rachel's grandmother has been back to Barbados just twice since she left

The Sunbury Plantation (a similar distance from The Crane to my Grandmother’s sugar estate) gave me an idea of the kind of life she led when she wasn’t living it up on the beach. Although much bigger than Fairfield, and beautifully restored in a more 18th and 19th century fashion than early 1900s, the house is furnished with the kind of mahogany antiques that my Grandmother would have known, as well as outhouses and equipment that were used for sugar production.

My Grandmother had no idea what a privileged upbringing and homeland she was giving up to come to England. I wonder if she’d have made the same decision in hindsight. I could barely bring myself to leave when the week was up. But not only has it been an escape from these cold winter days, I’ve also discovered a more tangible connection with my heritage that I hope to come back to more often. And at least it’s only a flight away rather than a 10-day boat trip.

Travel facts

Kuoni (01306 747008 or www.kuoni.co.uk) offers seven nights with breakfast at the 4.5-star The Crane, in a junior garden view suite, including direct flights with Virgin Atlantic from Gatwick and group transfers in resort.

Prices start from £1,762 per person, based on two sharing. To book please quote: CB0128

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Holidays in Barbados: My Grandmother couldn't wait to leave Crane Beach but I can't wait to go back